Garza leaving Redskins for UH

BASEBALLLongtime Lamar coach establishes winning legacy

Published 5:30 am, Thursday, August 18, 2005

Change can be scary, but Jorge Garza felt the time was right to make a move.

After a highly successful stint as Lamar's head baseball coach, Garza stepped down to accept a job as an assistant coach at the University of Houston.

"I had my share of sleepless nights before I made up my mind, but it was the right thing to do," said the 33-year-old Garza. "My goal is to be a head baseball coach in college. If that was ever going to happen, I had to do this now. I'm still young enough to take a chance."

Still, it wasn't an easy decision for Garza, who had close ties at Lamar. He was at the school for eight years, seven as head coach. His coaching record with the Redskins was 158-57, including 69-17 in district play.

Garza's teams won at least a share of the district championship three times (2002, 2004 and 2005), made six straight playoff appearances and averaged 22 wins per year. He also brought parity to the Houston Independent School District, a league that had been dominated by Bellaire.

"I have to give all the credit to my players," Garza said. "They're the ones who put in the work. They won the games, not me. I was fortunate to have good kids who were committed to winning."

Although Garza claimed more than 70 percent of his games with the Redskins, he preferred to focus on two other statistics.

"I'm more proud that 100 percent of the baseball players who graduated from Lamar went on to college," said Garza, an Upper Kirby District resident. "We also had 41 kids who went on to play college baseball. That's a much bigger deal to me."

Garza said Lamar provided him with excellent on-the-job training. He came to the school at age 25 with no prior head coaching experience.

"I was an assistant coach at Lee for three years (1995 to 1997) and had never been a head coach, but fortunately, Lamar took a chance on me," said Garza, who credited principal James McSwain and athletic coordinator Tom Nolen for hiring him.

In addition to McSwain and Nolen, Garza thanked Doug Terry, who he played and coached for at Lee.

"Doug was my mentor. He molded me into the coach I am today," said Garza, a 1990 Lee graduate.

Oddly enough, Garza considers University of Houston coach Rayner Noble as a mentor of sorts, too. Garza had worked several UH camps over the years and used many of the same coaching techniques as Noble's Cougars while at Lamar.

"Hopefully, that will make it an easier transition," Garza said. "I just want to be the best assistant coach I can be and try to lighten the load for the other three coaches on our coaching staff."

While Garza's position at UH is unpaid, he considers it a stepping stone to his ultimate goal.

"It will be an adjustment going from being a head coach to an assistant, but I don't mind starting at the bottom," Garza said. "I'm eager to learn. I'm just ready for fall practice to start."

But Garza, who will work part-time at Pershing Middle School in the mornings before going to the University of Houston, intends to stay in touch with his former Redskins players.

"They'll always be special to me," Garza said. "We had a pretty good run together."